Thanks to all those who have helped me organize trip to Dordogne in July. I now need some more advice! The flight to Toulouse is no longer possible. Our best bet is now to fly out of Santander in Spain near Bilbao. So from Brantome which will be our last night in Dordogne area we will be driving the 500 km or so to Spain along the coast. Any suggestions on where to stop for one night or two? Any special villages sites/restaurants we shouldn't miss?
Thanks

Your post does not say much about your trip for comments of flights..I am flying into Toulouse and doing the SE and then Dordogne and then over to Sare and the Basque area and departing from Biarritz. All worked out very well for my trip plans.

A lovely hotel in Sare is the Arraya:
http://www.arraya.com/ It might be something for you to look at.
Enjoy...Joan

Hotel looks lovely!
We are travelling from Italy and one way Toulouse-Rome costs 650 euros with Air France whereas Santander-Rome with Ryan air costs 45 euros! So I'd rather drive a bit longer and spend what I save staying somewhere special!

Hi Carrom,

Go to www.whichbudget.com

You can fly roulouse to Orly and Orly to Rome CIA.

The Orly flights to Rome are early in the morning so it would mean staying a night at Orly as well as taking 2 flights (hate flying!!). Believe me I've tried all sorts of combinations and Rome-Girona (convenient for us for Millau) and Santander-Rome is the cheapest and best I've found. It actually only adds 350 km to the Toulouse option and we get to see a new place.

If you have the time, go for it!! You have the opportunity to see some other places...as you said, spend the flight savings on some sight-seeing!!
Enjoy......Joan

We went from the Dordogne to Bilbao in two days. We left late, but did some sight-seeing on the first day, avoiding the autoroute. Our overnight stop was in Orthez. We stayed in the hotel <i>Au temps de la Reine Jeanne</i>, and had an excellent meal there which reflected the local cuisine. The Michelin Red Guide recommended the hotel but not the restaurant, and I think that they are making a mistake on the latter. On the way to Orthez we stopped in Labastide d'Armagnac, which has a very nice old square and a liquor store specializing in ... Armagnac. From Orthez we went to Bilbao via Ainhoa which is identified as <i>un des plus beaux villages de France</i>. We crossed the border through the mountains rather than the coast, but if you are in a hurry it would be better to cut back toward St. Jean de Luz from Ainhoa and then take the large highways.

Here are some photos from the trip:

http://www.photoworks.com/share/shar...BBCB&amp;cb=PW

I assume that you are driving. One acquaintance droppoed off his rental on one side of the border, crossed the border and rented a car on the other side to avoid the steep cross-border drop-off fee. But since you are going only to Santander, you might want to consider public transportation on the Spanish side of the border.

Hi carrom
&gt;The Orly flights to Rome are early in the morning ...&lt;

You could fly Orly to Pisa in the PM.

However, if you don't want to change planes, driving to Spain might be your best way.

Have you checked drop off charges?

In fact we are picking the car up in Gerona near Barcellona which suits us really well as we can pick up some fellow players in Perpignan on our way to Millau. So in fact the car will be costing us 300 euros for 12 days with ryanair discount no drop off charges which I think is pretty good.
it does make our trip a little different from what we started out with but I've added a copuple of extra days.
Orthez looks beautiful in your photos Michael - i'll check out where it is exactly as i'm not sure. I was thinking maybe San Sebastian for a stopover to see a bit of Spain. Am worried it may be very crowded though.

San Sebastian is in an atttractive location. It's OK as a town--it has a very small old town which post-dates the Napoleonic era and contains a lot of tapas bars--but Bilbao, with its museum is much more interesting.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34672817

Great photos! Amazing converted Arena! We were thinking of going to Bilbao for a long weekend on some other occasion as I think it needs a bit more time. Also maybe not in July. Any comments on Hondarribia?
Thanks!

We loved Hondarribia! Forty tapas bars and restaurants, a charming town on the sea, how could you not? Like most people we went to Bilbao to see the Guggenheim, admired the outside, weren't too impressed with the inside - good restaurant there too however. Maybe there is enough to see in Bilbao for a weekend, but it certainly didnt look like it driving through. There's a reason that they built the museum there - to attract people to a formerly prosperous industrial town in need of revitalization. I'd opt for more time in Hondarribia any day.

So would you stopover for the night in Hondarribia rather than San Sebastian? (We have to drive 500 km from Brantome to airport in Santander. Can make 2 one night stops or one 2 night stop.)

I would do two one night stops. This allows for some sightseeing. You have little time for that if you do the entire distance in one day.

I agree but where without going off track...i loved your suggestion of la Reine Jeanne but it's too far. Maybe just Bordeaux environs and San Sebastian?

Obviously we did not consider it too far since that was what we did (Dordogne-Orthez-San Sebastian) leaving the Dordogne late because of car problems. Perhaps the thing to do is check out different itineraries on Mappy. You can specify not only the end points, but stops in-between.

Maybe you're right - the place looks so nice. I'll check out a more inland route and see if that works. I'm just concerned that we will already have driven 1500 km in 8 days and these are the last 2. I've been using the microsoft route planner it's great!

I'm not touting Orthez as a destination but as a logical stop. It's just that the slower you go, the more you see.